Do You Hide Your Birthmarks?

You wouldn't think that so much time and thought could be focused on a strawberry-colored splotch on my inner thigh. Yet nearly every summer as a teen, once my denim shorts would come out, the adolescent in me would come up with all kinds of excuses to explain "the bruise," "the rub burn," or "the sunburnt area" that is, in fact, a birthmark. After hearing too many rounds of the dreaded question "What's that?," I resorted to wearing a waterproof concealer that stayed true throughout sweaty track runs and competitive volleyball games (oh how I cringed when I saw those tiny shorts). My mother would ask my reasons for hiding it—my birthmark was actually a twin to the one that she had in the same spot on her leg, which she said had shrunk with time to a tiny dot. I only said that I hoped mine would evaporate one day, too.

Over time, I waited for my beauty mark to lighten, but it never did. And now, I'm glad that it didn't. Instead of describing it as an irritation, I often tell those who notice that it's in the shape of a butterfly and it matches a faded one that belongs to my mother.

Have you ever covered up a beauty mark? Or do you think it makes you different in a good way?